Sheet piling



Aug. 11, 1936. A 'r. DITCHBURN 9 4 SHEET nuns Filed Aug. 30, 1934 2 Sheet s-Sheet 1 Aug. 11, 1936.

T. DITCHBURN SHEET FILING Filed Aug. 30, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 11, 1936 UETED STA S are Application August 30, 1934, Serial No. 742,173 In Great Britain October 9, 1933 7 Claims.

tral axis of the pile, said flats being interconnected by webs which are approximately at 45 to said neutral axis, said pile being terminated at one edge by an approximately ball sectioned member and at the other by a claw sectioned member of co-operating interlocking shape, said ball and claw sectioned members facing at approximately 45 to the neutral axis of the pile and being so arranged and shaped that a ball sectioned member may be entered into a claw sectioned member on another similar pile in either of two ways, and when so entered will form a joint having its centre substantially in the neutral axis of the pile and allowing of a limited angular movement of at least 20 between the piles so joined, said ball and claw members being also so shaped that when one is entered into the other there is a plurality of spaced lines of contact between the ball and the interior of the claw.

The provision of all the above features of construction in a pile provides a combination giving substantial advantages as regards manufacture and use; The most important of these advantages are:

('1) The great strength and rigidity of the piles for a given weight and their ability to be driven without fear of buckling or of deflecting from the vertical. This is, in part, due to the provision of flats parallel to the neutral axis interconnected by webs approximately at 45 to the neutral axis, and in part due to the fact that the joint centres are on the neutral axis.

(2") The great flexibility of the piles in use so that pile systems of the most varied shapes can be built up from" only a few main sections.

This is largely due to the provision of the claw and ball edges (as known per se) facing at approximately 45 to the neutral axis and so shaped that the pile sections can be connected to one another either way up and when con- (3) The obtaining of easily caulked and firm.

joints of very good characteristics as regards water-tightness. This is due to the provision of the plurality of lines of contact between ball and claw edgesa fact which enables the angular relationship of two joined piles to be varied over a wide angle while still giving a firm easily caulked seepage tight joint. Incidentally, of course, the fact that the balls are entered into the claws means that there are no external projections at the joints.

(4) The sectional form of the pile lends itself to easy and: cheap manufacture by rolling i. e. the section is a convenient one to roll.

The invention thus provides a sheet piling system which is extremely flexible in use, em- 1 ploys easily rolled piles of low weight for a given strength, has excellent practical qualities as regards water-tightness, and in which there may be, practically speaking, only two main shapes of sheet pile.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 show in top plan the three main shapes of pile members constructed in accordance with my invention, and Figures 5', 6, 7, 8, 9, '10, and 11 show some of the possible arrangements of these shapes in piling assemblies.

The steel pile shown in Figure 1 is rolled with a plurality: of flattened corrugations, the half corrugations (a) being disposed alternately on either side of the general axis X-X there being flat webs making an angle of 45 to the general axis and flats parallel to the said general axis. At one edge the pile is rolled to have a claw sectioned member (0) this member pointing at 45 to the general axis X'X and as shown in Figure 1 towards the left-hand side of that axis the eifective centre of the member being, as indicated, in the general axis. At the other edge the pile is rolled with an approximately ball sectioned member (b) which is so shaped that a claw sectioned member such as (0) provided on a neighbouring pile will accommodate it, the ball sectioned member also pointing at an angle of 45 to the general axis X-X"and also having its effective centre on that general axis. As will be at once apparent from the drawings, the ball and claw sectioned members are such that when the ball sectioned member of one pile is in position in the claw sectioned member of a neighbouring pile, there will be a certain amount of latitude for angular movement, since the claw sectioned member does not embrace the whole of the ball sectioned member, the angular movement possible being of the order of 30 or so,

while, at the same time, owing to the corners (clearly shown in Figures 1-4) on the ball sectioned members and the shape of the co-operating claw sectioned members, there will be a plurality of lines of contact between each ball sectioned member and the claw sectioned member in which it is inserted with the result that a seepage tight joint-or even possibly a fairly water-tight joint-may be obtained without much diiiiculty.

The pile shown in Figure 2 is very similar to that of Figure l the principal difference being that in Figure 2 the ball and claw edge members point towards opposite sides of the general axis XX.

Figures 3 and 4, when taken together (as indicated by the dotted lines) as one combined figure, may be regarded as showing the third main shape in the system, this third main shape consisting simply of two flat portions ((1) connected by a web (shown dotted) which is at 45 to the general axis X-X the one flat portion terminating in a claw member (0) at 45 to the general axis and the other flat portion terminating in a ball sectioned member (5) also pointing at 45 to the general axis. In practice this third shape (shown by Figures 3 and 4 when read as a combined figure) may be cut up into two portions as indicated by Figures 3 and 4 separately, the two portions being shown in full lines. These portions are useful for making connection to piles as shown in Figures 1 and 2 at points intermediate the edges.

Referring to Figures 5, 6 and '7 these show various typical ways in which piles or pile portions, as shown in Figures 1, 2;, 3 and 4 may be built up in piling assemblies. In the assembly of Figure 5 the piles shown are of the type exemplified by Figure 1 that is to say, they are piles in which the ball and clawsectioned members both point to the same side of the general axis.

In Figure 5, the piling assembly includes a straight portion and a second straight portion substantially at right angles thereto, this second straight portion continuing into a substantially circular portion.

In the assembly shown in Figure 6 piles of the type illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 are both employed, these types alternating.

Figure '7 indicates various ways in which pile portions, as shown in Figure 3 or 4 (regarded;

separately) may be used to make connection with piles as shown in Figure 1 or 2 at points intermediate their edges. In Figure '7 a pile as shown in Figure 1 is illustrated, and pile portions as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 (regarded separately) are shown riveted to the flats of the said pile.

It will, of course, be at once appreciated that the adaptations or assemblies illustrated in Figures 5, 6 and 7 are merely by way of example, and that a piling system in accordance with this invention is very flexible in its use and that numerous other assemblies and arrangements can readily be made up from the piles and pile portions shown in Figures 1 to 4. It will also be appreciated that the number of corrugations in the individual piles is a matter which can be varied within wide limits and that the invention is not limited to the use of the specific number of corrugations illustrated in the drawings.

As is well known, a practical difiiculty, often met with in sheet piling work, is a tendency for the edges of sheet piles to deflect from the vertical. For example, when a number of interlocked sheet piles have been driven into the ground, it will often be found that the edge of the last pile driven, although it should be vertical, is not in fact vertical. Pile portions, as shown in Figures 3 and 4 can readily be employed as parts of a fabricated tapered pile to enable this deflection to be corrected for. Figures 8, 9, 10 and 11 show fabricated tapered piles made up for this purpose. As will be apparent from these figures each tapered pile consists of a tapered plate which is riveted to pile portions as shown in Figures 3 and 4 (taken separately) so that these pile portions form the edges of the whole fabricated pile. By suitably selecting the taper of the plate and then driving the fabricated tapered pile next to that edge of a sheet pile which is found to have deflected too far from the vertical, difiiculties due to the said deflection can be avoided since the other edge of the fabricated tapered pile will, if the taper be properly chosen, be vertical and ready to receive another sheet pile.

What I claim is:

1. A sheet pile consisting of flattened corrugations made up of a plurality of flats which are substantially parallel to the neutral axis of the pile, said flats being interconnected by webs which are at approximately 45 to said neutral axis, said pile being terminated at one edge by an approximately ball sectioned member and at the other by a claw sectioned member of co-operating interlocking shape, said ball and claw sectioned members facing at approximately 45 to the neutral axis of the pile and being so arranged and shaped that a ball sectioned member may be entered into a claw sectioned member on another similar pile in either of two ways and when so entered will form a joint having its centre substantially in the neutral axis of the pile and allowing of a limited angular movement of at least 20 between the piles so joined,

said ball and claw members being also so shaped that when one is entered into the other there is a plurality of spaced lines of contact between the ball and the'interior of the claw.

2. A sheet pile as claimed in claim 1 and wherein the claw sectioned and approximately ball sectioned members point both to one side of the neutral axis of the pile.

3. Asheet pile as claimed in claim 1 and wherein the claw sectioned member points to one side and the approximately ball sectioned member to the opposite side of the neutral axis of the pile.

4. In a piling system comprising a plurality of piles in accordance with claim 1, a sheet pile member constituted by a flat plate terminated at one edge by a claw sectioned member pointing at approximately 45 to the plane of said plate and shaped like the claw members of the sheet piles of said system.

5. In a piling system comprising a plurality of piles in accordance with claim 1, a sheet pile member constituted by a flat plate terminated at one edge by an approximately ball sectioned member pointing at approximately 45 to the plane of said plate and shaped like the ball members of the sheet piles of said system.

6. In a piling system comprising a plurality of piles in accordance with claim 1, a piling member consisting of a plate terminated at one edge by a claw sectioned member pointing at approximately 45 to the plane of said plate and terminated at the other edge by an approximately an approximately ball sectioned member of coball sectioned member also pointing at approxioperating interlocking shape at the opposite nonmately 45 to the plane of said plate. parallel edge, said ball and claw sectioned mem- 7. In a piling system comprising a plurality of hers being shaped like the ball and claw sec- 5 piles in accordance with claim 1, a fabricated tioned members of the sheet piles of the system. 5

tapered pile member consisting of a tapered plate I having a claw sectioned member at one edge and THOMAS DITCHBURN. 

